The Life and Times of Rami Stucky

Jay-Z once said that “it’s a hard-knock life”, and I agree. In the life and times of Shawn, he went from lukewarm to hot and analyzed life’s ills. He slept on futons and cots then upgraded to king size. He went from standing on the corners boppin’ to driving some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen and dropping some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard. It’s quite astonishing, no? In the life and times of Rami, I’ve gone from private school to private school to public school that felt like private school. I’ve gone from living in one prosperous residential area to living in another. My life can be compared to the Kansan landscape in which I inhabit; Flat plains with no mountains, valleys, peaks, or plateaus. If you were to compose a musical symphony based on the financial accomplishments of my family in our lifetime, you would have one measure consisting of one whole note. Within that measure, there would be a crescendo that spans the dynamic level of fortissimo to triple forte.

Jay-Z and I don’t share the same struggle. For some in my position, life is hard because their parents push them for 4.0 GPA’s and admittance into Ivy League universities. For others who are not in my position, life is hard because they have strip to pay their tuition to community college or consistently flee murder scenes. I’ll let you decide which one seems more logical of a fear. To me however, it’s a hard-knock life because of I have (and I don’t mean to brag) virtually everything. Where’s a person supposed to go when they’re at the top of the economic and social ladder? At the top, there’s not much place to go besides down, and going down isn’t accomplishing much either. Where should my motivation be directed? Let’s face it, what’s more impressive; a child from the Marcy housing projects in Brooklyn graduating from medical school, or a cynical, rich, white International Baccalaureate student graduating from medical school?

My English teacher once said, “everybody has a story”. However I’m sorry to say that I don’t agree. In fact, I don’t think certain people should necessarily deserve stories, and those people are people like me. Ironic isn’t it? Typically and historically the lower class have been scum of society. Nobody cares about them or wants to be associated with him, however in my opinion, they are the most successful, the most aspiring, and in my opinion, people I wish I could be.

I want to run with Jay-Z and stick up the world and split it 30/50 but I think I’ll end up crying when I don’t get accepted to John Hopkins instead. Oh, and I believe girls shouldn’t have to strip to pay tuition.

*Jay-Z, and his song “Hard-Knock Life” off of his album Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life are heavily referenced in here and rightfully so. I’d like to thank Jay-Z and all the other musical artists whose music I take refuge in.

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Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.